Safflower oil 'may reduce heart disease risk'

A regular serving of safflower oil may help to improve levels of cholesterol and blood sugar in postmenopausal women who are obese and have type-2 diabetes, a small study suggests.

Safflower oil is a flavourless and colourless oil that has a similar nutritional content to sunflower oil.

Scientists at Ohio State University found that women who consumed about 1.66 teaspoons of the common cooking oil each day for 16 weeks showed improvements in a number of risk factors for heart disease.

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The oil contains a polyunsaturated fatty acid called linoleic acid, which is now thought to help prevent metabolic syndrome - a cluster of conditions that increase a person's risk of developing heart disease.

Lead author Professor Martha Belury revealed: 'The women in the study didn't replace what was in their diet with safflower oil. They added it to what they were already doing.

'And that says to me that certain people need a little more of this type of good fat - particularly when they're obese women who already have diabetes.'

The study involved 35 women and is published in the journal Clinical Nutrition.

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